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Set against red stage curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has brought the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was planned to follow his apology.

This formal apology occurred at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars involved in the 2022 attack that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who expressed support for ISIS, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, bishops of the church characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, becoming the second in the world to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church began ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners could have church weddings starting in 2017. During 2023, Tveit joined in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era in the church’s history”.

According to Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “strong and important” but arrived “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts since the church viewed the crisis as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, a handful of religious institutions have sought to reconcile for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, the Anglican Church apologised for what it referred to as its “shameful” treatment, although it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church last year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, but remained staunch in the view that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

In the early part of this year, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Reverend Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”